Essay about The Road By Cormac Mccarthy

Essay about The Road By Cormac Mccarthy

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In Cormac McCarthy’s book The Road, the two main characters struggle to keep moving forward. Their motivation to push onward is found in the bottom levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; which are physiological, safety, and emotional. Each of the levels are equally important in order for the man to reach self-actualization. In order to reach the top level, however, the man must fulfill the bottom levels first.
The physiological level, which is at the bottom of the pyramid, must be carried out first in order to reach the top level of self-actualization. Some of the needs in this level are food, water, air, shelter, and sleep. These certain needs are what the man and the boy are searching for throughout the entire book. In the bottom level of physiological needs, the man and the boy are mainly concerned with finding food and water.
In the beginning, the two have food, but it is not satisfactory (McCarthy 10). As the two travel along, they start to run out of food. They find bits and pieces to eat as they go, but not enough to make last a long time. Until, however, they find an abundance of food in an abandoned house (McCarthy 138).
As they look for food, they meet or see other humans. Some of these humans are not the same as the man and the boy. They are, however, cannibals. The need for food drove them to an unspeakable act of cannibalism. The other person they see is a normal human trying to survive. The very altruistic boy wants to help the others and share his own food. Unfortunately, the man knows that the more people they have in their group, the less amount of food they will have and the possibility of a shorten life span (Bo 32).
The need of water is not any easier to implement. Fresh, sanitary water is not something th...

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...ses his mind in thinking they are safe, although there are only two bullets left. The other needs of safety are not met because there is no medical help for them or a house for them to stay in.
The last level of emotional needs is the hardest for the man and the boy to push past. The loss of their mother/wife had the most impact on the two of them. They only have each other to rely on and they are the only source of love and affection. The man and the boy also have no friends and this mishap pushed the man into having trust issues with everything he sees or touches.
In conclusion, The Road’s main protagonist motivate each other to move forward in the terrible occurrence. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs help the two of them to feel human in an inhuman world. All in all, the man and the boy are there for each other in every way and are the reason they both push forward.

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